As BYU’s nonconference schedule continues to take shape, the Cougars have added an intriguing preseason matchup a few hours south of Provo.
BYU will face UNLV at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Oct. 24, according to UNLV head coach Josh Pastner in a recent radio interview.
“That BYU game ... should be great,” Pastner told ESPN Las Vegas. “You know, obviously there’s a large (Latter-day Saint) population here in Las Vegas. We want the entire stadium to be filled of Rebel fans, but there is a big contingent of BYU fans here in Las Vegas, so, we’ll accept your money. Buy the tickets for that game as well, too.
“But it should be a great game, we’re really excited. Kevin Young’s a great coach at BYU.”
According to BYU basketball insider Robby McCombs of Vanquish the Foe, prior to landing at UNLV, Pastner was “nearly Kevin Young’s first assistant coach hire after he took the (BYU) job.
UNLV and BYU competed as conference rivals in both the WAC and Mountain West from 1996-2011, but they haven’t matched up on the regular-season hardwood since 2019.
In addition to UNLV, BYU will host an exhibition against Nebraska at the Marriott Center on Oct. 16, with the Huskers making the return trip to Provo after the Cougars came out to Lincoln for a scrimmage this past October.
Per McCombs, BYU is able to schedule one more exhibition, but the Cougars may designate such a game as a closed-door scrimmage with no spectators or media coverage.
BYU’s current preseason schedule
The Cougars currently have two of three allotted exhibitions scheduled along with 13 of 14 available nonconference games.
- Oct. 16 — Nebraska (exhibition)* | Marriott Center
- Oct. 24 — UNLV (exhibition) | Las Vegas, Nevada
- Nov. 2 — Ohio State | Delta Center (per Rocco Miller)
- Nov. 10 — Queens | Marriott Center (per Rothstein and Miller)
- Nov. 12 — Montana State | Marriott Center (per Alex Rosinski)
- Nov. 18 — Northern Colorado | Marriott Center (per Rosinski)
- Nov. 23-25 — Maui Invitational* | Maui, Hawaii
- Dec. 5 — Northwestern | Delta Center (per Miller)
- Dec. 9 — Utah State* | Marriott Center (per Rosinski)
- Dec. 12 — Cal State Fullerton | Marriott Center
- Dec. 15 — Weber State | Marriott Center (per Rosinski)
- Dec. 19 — San Diego State | Palm Springs, California (per Rothstein)
- Dec. 22 — La Salle | Marriott Center (per Jeff Neiburg)